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Lawnton Parent & Family Engagement

LAWNTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL – 2025-2026

TITLE I PARENT AND FAMILY ENGAGEMENT POLICY

 

Purpose

The Board recognizes that meaningful parent and family engagement contributes to the achievement of state academic standards by students participating in Title I programs. This policy, developed by Lawnton Elementary School in collaboration with and agreed to by parents and family members, describes how parents and family members will be engaged at the school level.

 

Components

The school complies with federal law related to the engagement of parents and family members by detailing how the school will:

1.      Involve parents and family members in the planning, review, and improvement of the school’s Parent and Family Engagement Policy:

  • During PTO meetings and other schoolwide events, volunteers will be asked to interpret if necessary.  Parents will be asked to provide feedback after events using a paper evaluation or Google Form. 
  • Included in the above meetings will be clarification of school procedures and a question/answer session.

2.      Convene an annual meeting, at a convenient time:

  • To which all parents and family members of participating children shall be invited, and encouraged to attend;
    • Yearly at our Back to School Night Event, all families in attendance receive an overview of our Title I reading program.  They are given resources to assist their children with reading and math strategies
    • At our Math & Literacy Night, we spotlight reading and math strategies that encourage participation in both.  Students receive free books and participate in hands-on reading and math activities
    • Before one of the PTO meetings, the principal conducts an overview of Title I, shares Title I documents, and elicits feedback.
  • To inform parents and family members of their school’s participation as a Title I school; and
    • During one of the PTO meetings, the principal conducts an overview of what Title I is and how it helps our school. 
  • To explain the requirements and the rights of parents and family members to be involved.
    • Title I documentation is reviewed and posted on the Lawnton website.  Parents are informed of this through Blackboard.

3.      Offer a flexible number of meetings in the morning and/or the evening

  • Most of our meetings are held in the evenings.  Title I reading assistance meeting is offered during the day.  We will continue to schedule meetings a various times throughout the day.

4.      Involve parents and family members, in an organized, ongoing, and timely way, in the planning, review, and improvement of the Title I program, including the planning, review, and improvement of the school’s parent and family engagement program:

  • A group of parents is asked to review the existing Title I documents and make recommendations for change.

5.      Provide parents and family members of participating children with timely information about the Title I program:

  • All Title I documents are sent home via Blackboard, flyer home, and/or also posted on the Lawnton website.  Documents are made available on the school’s website.

6.      Provide parents and family members of participating children with a description and explanation of the curriculum in use at the school, the forms of academic assessments used to measure student progress, and the achievement levels of the state academic standards:

  • After each benchmark period, parents are provided a student report of the results.  These results are also shared at parent/teacher conferences, IEP meetings, and other parent meetings, especially if concerns arise.
  • A curriculum focus is provided in the Bangert Bulletin that goes out to parents via Blackboard at least 1 times per month during the school year.

7.      Provide, if requested by parents and family members, opportunities for regular meetings to formulate suggestions and to participate, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children, and respond to any such suggestions:

  • Requests made by parents are always honored and the appropriate team members are made available for the meetings.

8.      Involve parents and family members in the joint development of the School Wide Program Plan following federal law. [Note: applies only to Title I schools operating a School- Wide Program]:

  • A group of parents is asked to review the existing Title I documents and make recommendations for change.
  • Parents are also invited to attend our Comprehensive Planning Meetings.

9.      Create a school-parent and family compact developed jointly with parents and family members outlining how parents and family members, the entire school staff, and students will share in the responsibility for improved student academic achievement and how the school and the parents and family members will build and develop partnerships to help children achieve the state’s academic standards. The compact shall:

  •  Describe the school’s responsibility to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment that enables children in Title I programs to meet the state academic standards, and the ways in which each parent and family member will be responsible for supporting their children’s learning; volunteering in their child’s classroom; and participating, as appropriate, in decisions relating to the education of their children and positive use of extracurricular time and
     
  • Address the importance of communication between teachers and parents and family members on an ongoing basis through, at a minimum:
     
    • Teacher conferences with parents and family members in elementary schools, at least annually, during which the compact shall be discussed as the compact relates to the individual child’s achievement;
    • Frequent reports to parents and family members on their children’s progress;
    • Reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child’s class, and observation of classroom activities; and
    • Ensuring regular two-way, meaningful communication between parents and family members and school staff, in a language that parents and family members can understand.

§  A Comprehensive Plan Committee meets several times to analyze data and create an action plan.

§  A group of parents is asked to look over the existing Title I School/Parent compact and make recommendations for change.

§  Every student’s data is reviewed weekly so that if they are not making growth over a few weeks’ time, changes are made, such as an increase in time or intensity, or providing a different intervention.

§  Curriculum is of high quality.  Curriculum maps are developed by district committees and all teachers are held accountable for implementation with fidelity.

§  Parent/Teacher conferences are held twice a year.

§  Teachers keep parents informed of their children’s progress ongoing.  Parents have access to view grades online so they are updated with the most current data.

10.  Provide assistance to parents and family members in understanding the state academic standards, state and local academic assessments, and how to monitor a child’s progress and work with teachers to improve the achievement of their children:

  • Assistance is provided to parents and family members as the need arises.  Progress is reported to parents 3 times a year after benchmark collection, during conferences, and throughout the year from teachers and our online system.

11.  Provide materials and training to help parents and family members to work with their children to improve their children’s achievement, such as literacy training and using technology including education about the harms of copyright piracy, as appropriate, to foster parent and family involvement:

  • After each benchmark period, parents are given a student report of the results.  These results are also shared at parent/teacher conferences, IEP meetings and other parent meetings, especially if concerns arise.
  • All Title I documents are sent home via Blackboard and also posted on the Lawnton web site.  Documents are distributed at Back to School Night, Math & Literacy Night, and the annual informational night in October.
  • Yearly at our Back-to-School Night Event, all families in attendance receive an overview of our Title I Reading and Math program.  They are given resources to assist their children with reading strategies.
  • At our Math & Literacy Night, we spotlight reading and math strategies. Students receive free books and participate in hands-on reading and math activities.

12.  Educate teachers, specialized instructional support personnel, and other staff, with the assistance of parents and family members, in the value and utility of contributions of parents and family members, and in how to reach out to, communicate with, and work with parents and family members as equal partners, implement and coordinate parent programs, and build ties between parents and family members and the school:

  • Parent involvement materials are provided to school staff.  These books are discussed in faculty meetings and plans are often made to coordinate with the book’s suggestions. 
  • Lawnton’s PLC committee reviews parent surveys and utilizes the information to set further goals.
  • Teachers are asked to have, at minimum, 1 activity per school year where parents are invited into the classroom to watch their children or participate in an event. 
  • Parents accompany classes on field trips dependent on district guidelines
  • PTO is involved with several school activities where parents volunteer their time.
  • PTO and staff brainstorm ways to involve more parents in school activities.

13.  To the extent feasible and appropriate, coordinate, and integrate parent and family member involvement programs and activities with other federal, state, and local programs including public preschool programs, and conduct other activities that encourage and support parents and family members in more fully participating in the education of their children:

  • Outside mental health services such as True North, Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, PTO interactions with local businesses for donations for the school, Church volunteers at school events, and the community libraries which encourage summer reading at home.

14.  Ensure that information related to school and parent and family member programs, meetings, and other activities is sent to the parents and family members of participating children in a format and in a language the parents and family members can understand:

  • Information will be communicated in different languages using Google Translate, Class DoJo and the Blackboard feature.  Home/School connection flyers are sent home and made available monthly in both English and Spanish.  Information for our Nutri-pack program is developed in 10 different languages.

15.  Provide opportunities for the informed participation of parents and family members (including parents and family members who have limited English proficiency, parents and family members with disabilities, and parents and family members of migratory children):

  • Title I Trunk or Treat
  • Kindergarten Orientation
  • Back to School night
  • Literacy/Math Night

16.  Ensure distribution of the policy to all parents and family members with a child participating in a Title I program by the following means:

  • Hard copies, website, attachment on our Blackboard System, Title I informational Night, Back to School Night, Math & Literacy Night

Delegation of Responsibility

 The Superintendent or designee shall ensure that the Title I Parent and Family Engagement Policy, plan and programs comply with the requirements of federal law.

The building principal and/or Title I staff shall notify parents and family members of the existence of Title I programs and provide:

  1. An explanation of the program.
     
  2. A set of goals and objectives to be addressed.
     
  3. A description of the services to be provided.
     
  4. A copy of this policy and the School-Parent and Family Compact.
     

Each school with a Title I program shall provide communications, information and school reports to parents and family members who have limited English proficiency, parents and family members with disabilities, and parents and family members of migratory children, in a language and format they can understand.